1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in deep sea fishing sinkers, particularly deep sea fishing sinkers having a directional component for guidance during trolling.
2. Description of the Art
Generally, deep sea and also fresh water lakes and reservoirs fishing sinkers and trolling cannonballs are masses usually made of material having a density greater than the ambient sea water, that are rigged to one end of a tow line extending from a boat, with a leader attaching a hook and piece of bait. As the boat trolls the water, a spread of several tow lines are pulled through the water at a distance from each other and at depths depending upon the variables such as the length of the line, the speed of the vessel, and the resistance of the sinker to movement through the water, and the speed of the boat. All too frequently, tow lines become intertwined with each other as the sinker diverts from it's path due to turbulence, and crosses into the path of another line. Various types of deep sea fishing sinkers have been constructed over the years to maintain certain depth.
A trolling sinker designed to travel at various distances below the surface of the water, not depending on the weight of the trolling sinker and the speed of the boat, is noted by Madson (U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,537). The Madson trolling sinker incorporates a body and a swivel plate, to drag bait at a desired distance below the water. A tow line and leader with bait are attached to opposite ends of the body of the trolling sinker. The plate may be swiveled and fixed at various angles with respect to the body to force the trolling sinker to a desired distance below the water as the boat trolls at any speed. Additionally, the edges of the swivel plate, which act as flaps, may be manually bent to direct the sinker laterally away from the boat.
Hemmerle (U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,951) uses an out-rover lure designed to ride the surface of the water, ostensibly to guide bait laterally away from a boat at great distances from the boat. The Hemmerle out-rover lure has a body constructed of a polyurethane resin foam or other suitable sculptable material that floats on the water with slanted wings to divert the lure upwards, a main keel, a weight and a rudder positioned at an angle with a longitudinal axis extending through the main body of the lure. A fishing line and leader with bait may be attached to the body of the out-rover lure. The body is made of a lightweight material to maintain a steady course while trolling, and the weight is positioned in one of the wings to counterbalance the tendency of the out-rover lure to rotate about its longitudinal axis while being pulled.
I have discovered that deep sea fishing sinkers previously constructed to maintain a certain depth have many drawbacks. Generally, these sinkers are either too complex and expensive to produce, or do not sufficiently both allow the sinker to travel below the surface of the water while providing suitable directional guidance. The Madson '537 trolling sinker for example, which is a complex multipiece device, forces the sinker to a desired depth below the water with the swivel plate, but does not provide for an accurate method of directing the sinker laterally from a boat. The Hemmerle out-rover lure, which is also a complex device with weights positioned in the molded body having wings, a rudder and a keel, forces itself upwards as water travels across its slanted wings.